Obituary of Judy Ann Waterman

Judy Waterman (1940-2019)

Judy was born in Celina, Ohio on 15 December 1940, the daughter of Ashley and Inez Kincaid Dumbauld. Her father Ashley was a carpenter and foreman at the local furniture factory in Celina. Judy had a happy small-town childhood and met her future husband and love of her life, Larry Waterman, when she was 15 years old. As she recalled later, they went to the school dance and spent the whole night talking about books and other interests they shared. They continued to enjoy each other’s company for 64 years—59 of which they were married— and shared a love of books, music, birds, crosswords, traveling and family.

Judy was the Celina High School valedictorian in 1958, and went on to graduate from Ohio University with a BS in Journalism in 1961. She finished college in three years, going to summer school, taking extra class loads, and completing correspondence courses so she could marry Ensign Larry Waterman, USN, on December 23, 1960,  before he was deployed on a cruise around Africa for six months.

Judy left for Europe on a coal freighter in 1962 accompanied by a friend and fellow Navy wife, following Larry’s ship and meeting up with him in ports all over the continent. Judy followed Larry for 26 years as a “Navy Wife,” making over 30 household moves and living on four continents. During that time she raised three boys: David, Timothy, and Alexander.

The family lived in Tehran, Iran during the revolution (1977-79). Tehran was a formative cultural experience for the family, though it proved to be one of the greatest challenges Judy and the family would go through. Their time in Iran was followed by the happiest of periods in London, from 1979-1983. After the traumas of leaving Iran, Judy often talked about how the garden she looked out upon in their English home felt like an earthly paradise.

After Larry retired from the Navy in 1986, he became an “English Professor Husband,” following Judy to Australia where she worked on her PhD in Australian women’s literature. Tim and Dave— then college age— stayed behind in the United States and an eleven-year-old Alex made the journey down to Oz with mom and dad.

Judy received graduate degrees from the University of Idaho and the Flinders University of South Australia in Adelaide. She was Emeritus Associate Professor of Humanities at Sage College of Albany, where she founded an honors program of interdisciplinary studies and led bus trips to literary sites in the near area and student tours to England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. She was a lover and supporter of art and literature, and the most loving mother and grandmother anyone could hope for. She is survived by her husband Larry, her sons, and her grandchildren Emily, Jack, Eliot and Alasdair.

The family wishes to give sincerest thanks to Doctors Jill Braverman-Panza, Duncan Savage, and Rufus Collea, and all of their nurses and staffs, for superior care and true friendship.

All are invited to join the family at 2 pm on Thursday, May 30 at Bethlehem Cemetery, Delmar where Judy will be remembered and interment will take place.  A memorial service will be held for Judy on a date and time to be announced.   

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity in memory of Judy.